The 20,000 people were left homeless in the villages of Rog and Gishkon, where 1,050 mud dwellings were destroyed, according Russia's RIA Novosti news agency.

No fatalities were reported, Tajikistan's Asia Plus news agency said on its Web site, citing Azimjon Shamsiddinov, deputy head of the Vanj district, where the two villages are located.

The Vanj district was among the hardest hit, RIA Novosti said. A hospital, two schools, a recreation center and a prosecutor's office were destroyed in the district, about 400 kilometers (249 miles) southeast of Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, according to the news agency.

The U.S. Geological Survey classified the quake as a magnitude 5.3. It was centered 80 km (50 miles) north of Korough, Tajikistan, and was about 44.5 km (27.7 miles) below the Earth's surface, the USGS said.